01 June, 2011

What a busy week we're having, not much time to write blog posts. But I did want to mention a few items that just arrived.

The 50.4bcd inner rings and 50.4bcd outer rings are here. We also have single speed rings. They are fully compatible with TA, Sugino, Nervar, Grand Cru, Stronglight, and most other 50.4bcd cranks and they work with 6-10 speed chains.

The VO compact double crank is back in stock. But a production problem has delayed the next shipment of 50.4bcd Grand Cru cranks by a couple of months.

18 comments:

Ryan
said...

I was hoping for a less expensive alternative to TA rings, but these actually cost more! Are they somehow better? I'd prefer no ramps and pins, since the chain tends to "snag" on the pins and make irritating noises in my experience.

Won't the TA inner go as small as 26T? Any chance of those (or any other sizes, inner, outer, single) being added?

On my Alfine-11 Polyvalent I'm using a pair of old Nervar cranks (newly polished) with a new TA 44T ring. I found some chrome plugs at the hardware store in one of those drawers of fasteners & small parts. It doesn't look as nice as it would with a real single ring, but it's not bad.

The rings look great but I wanted to mention that I'm really pleased with the Fluted Compact double crank I just received. Although you are busy, you are very much keeping on top of things with good delivery times.

I prefer the look of the dust cap on the fluted double over the 50.4bcd. Will these work on other cranks and if so how about selling these separately?

The VO rings are thicker and less flexible that TA rings. Flexibility was often a problem with 50.4bcd rings. They also have modern tooth profiles and shifting aids, so shifting is much smoother, especially across wide range doubles. I've been using 50.4bcd cranks and rings for decades and these are the best shifting ever.

Okay, so the rings are finally here (yes, you need to get a 26T granny). Now let's see about bolt kits:

1) A single-ring bolt kit. This should be easy to do; just have the crank-to-chainring bolts from the current double-ring pack packaged separately from the chainring-to-chainring bolts, and sell them as a separate item. Perhaps $8-10 for the crank/chainring group, $12-14 for the chainring/chainring group and $20 for a full set would underwrite the expense of maintaining separate SKUs.

2) Triple-ring, triple-ring, triple-ring. I've raised this point several times before, and I raise it again: Those of us who use triple-ring 50.4 cranks need these bolts more than anyone, because there are no new sources for compatible parts. I have been forced to use M6 machine screws with Nylock nuts - a secure mechanism, but not an exact fit.

If you're following the TA pattern (short bolts for everything, with nuts of different length depending on purpose), the only new part you'd need is a longer nut. You'd use the same bolts from the double set, toss six extra spacers in, and you're done.

Alternately, what is the threading pattern on the bolts? I've assumed they're 0.8 standard pitch, rather than 0.75 TA pitch. But if they are thread-compatible with TA nuts, I could recycle TA triple nuts for use with VO's more rugged stainless bolts.

While I'm agitating for new products that are slight modifications of existing products, how about spare/replacement electrical connectors for the dynamo hub? I've just finished building my wheel, and I realize that the plastic connector is:

When it comes to small fitted parts, I always want to have spares around. I'd gladly buy ten of these, just in case. What's more, it would allow me to equip multiple framesets with dynamo lighting systems, and switch the wheel around.

Jammy, the traditional front derailleur technique for half-step/granny triples is to use a old-fashioned double-ring front derailleur, probably because the cages are usually wider than modern ones. Campagnolo Nuovo Records are common, since there are a ton of them around. I currently use an NR with a 34/46/50 setup, but I'm about to switch to a smaller granny ring - either 26 or 29T. I'm not anticipating any problems

I have been waiting a long time for rings like these! I want to use the single speed version on a WW project. I therefore need to know how much the 44T single speed ring weighs. I'm guessing it won't be very light due to the 4,5 mm thickness.

Another thing that people need - left-hand crank-arms. A couple of years ago I bought a right-hand TA three arm on eBay 'cause it was $5. I figured eventually a left hand arm would show up. They never do. For every orphan LH arm out there there are a dozen RHs looking for a warm and loving home.

Why is it the left arms don't show up? Were they weaker? I just got a very nice Stronglight 49D right arm as gift and was hoping to find a left arm and put new VO rings on it. Maybe I'll have little luck?Thanks,Todd